There are few people I have heard of
who possessed the body and audacity
to survive, if they had to face,
the outbursts of that poison-breather
or would have scavenged the ring-hall floor
to find the dragon
on guard and awake.
The wealth had been won,
bought and paid with Beowulf's bereavement.
Both had reached the end of the road
of the lives they had been lent.
Shortly, the ones who fled from the brawl crawled back,
the ones who had betrayed their king earlier,
the tail-turners, all ten of them together.
When he needed them the most, they ran away
Now they felt guilty and came reluctantly
in their armors, to where the old king lay.
They watched Wiglaf, sitting exhausted,
a companion, shoulder to shoulder with his king,
making frustrated attempts to bring him back with water.
Much as he wanted to, there was no way
he could keep hold of his lord's life on Earth
or alter the God's will.
What God judge right rules what happens
to every man, as it does to this day.
Then some serious scolding followed
from the young warrior to the ones who had been cowards.
Wiglaf, son of Weohstan, spoke
scornfully and and in distress:
"Anyone ready to accept reality
will surely realize that our king,
who showered you with gifts and gave you the armor
you are standing in – when he would distribute
helmets and mail-shirts to men on the mead-benches,
a prince treating his subjects in his hall
with the best things he could find
was equal to throwing weapons uselessly away.
It would be a miserable waste when the war broke out.
Beowulf had little cause to brag
about his armed guard; yet God who chooses
who wins or loses allowed him to strike
with his own blade when valor was needed.
There are few people I have heard of
who possessed the body and audacity
to survive, if they had to face,
the outbursts of that poison-breather
or would have scavenged the ring-hall floor
to find the dragon
on guard and awake.
The wealth had been won,
bought and paid with Beowulf's bereavement.
Both had reached the end of the road
of the lives they had been lent.
Shortly, the ones who fled from the brawl crawled back,
the ones who had betrayed their king earlier,
the tail-turners, all ten of them together.
When he needed them the most, they ran away
Now they felt guilty and came reluctantly
in their armors, to where the old king lay.
They watched Wiglaf, sitting exhausted,
a companion, shoulder to shoulder with his king,
making frustrated attempts to bring him back with water.
Much as he wanted to, there was no way
he could keep hold of his lord's life on Earth
or alter the God's will.
What God judge right rules what happens
to every man, as it does to this day.
Then some serious scolding followed
from the young warrior to the ones who had been cowards.
Wiglaf, son of Weohstan, spoke
scornfully and and in distress:
"Anyone ready to accept reality
will surely realize that our king,
who showered you with gifts and gave you the armor
you are standing in – when he would distribute
helmets and mail-shirts to men on the mead-benches,
a prince treating his subjects in his hall
with the best things he could find
was equal to throwing weapons uselessly away.
It would be a miserable waste when the war broke out.
Beowulf had little cause to brag
about his armed guard; yet God who chooses
who wins or loses allowed him to strike
with his own blade when valor was needed.